Requesting Beam Time

Use one of the following options depending on your research:

General User Proposal

If you have an existing General User proposal that has been reviewed and rated in the PASS System, additional beam time requests can be submitted against the original proposal for its lifetime, a period of up to six cycles (two years). When you log into the PASS system, click on the middle box "Access Your Existing PASS Forms." You can then choose the proposal you wish, and submit a new beamtime request against it. Some beamlines accept current cycle requests, so that you submit a beamtime request during the current, ongoing cycle.

Remember, data taken during experiments associated with a General User proposal is considered to be in the public domain. There is no charge for General User beamtime.

Rapid Access

Similar to the above, if you have an existing Rapid Access proposal that has been reviewed and rated in the PASS system, additional current cycle beamtime requests can be submitted against the Rapid Access proposal for its lifetime, which is a period of three cycles (one year) total. When you log into the PASS system, click on the middle box "Access Your Existing PASS Forms." You can then choose the proposal you wish, and submit a new current cycle beam time request against it.

Remember, data taken during experiments associated with a Rapid Access proposal is considered to be in the public domain. There is no charge for Rapid Access beamtime.

Proprietary Research

Follow the same process as described above under General User Proposal to submit an additional beam time request against your Proprietary proposal. Please note that Proprietary research proposals can request time in the current cycle as well as the upcoming cycle.

Remember, data taken during experiments associated with a Proprietary proposal is considered proprietary. Beamtime used is subject to charge according to the NSLS User Access Policy.

Participating Research Teams and Contributing User Program

Participating Research Teams (PRTs) and Contributing User (CU) Programs have dedicated blocks of beamtime on selected beamlines at the NSLS facility. Members of PRTs and CUs that wish to access this time should contact your beamline spokesperson directly. Users that wish to collaborate with PRTs or CUs to access some of this time are also encouraged to contact the spokesperson. (See the beamline guide for spokesperson contact information.)

There are also specialized purposes under which you may request beam time, both of which require meeting with the NSLS Facility Director. These include:

Methods and Instrumentation Development Team (MIDT) on an NSLS Diagnostic beamline

For detailed instructions on accessing the web-based Proposal System called PASS (Proposal, Allocation, Safety, and Scheduling), click here.

Deadlines For Requesting Beam Time

Refer to the appropriate deadlines for the submission of General User proposals and declaration of beam time for PRTs and Contributing Users.

General User Account

Users may need to set up a $1,000 operating account to cover operating expenses while at the NSLS, such as charges for use of trades, shops, and stockroom withdrawals (such as liquid nitrogen). A telephone access code, for use in placing off-site calls and faxes, is associated with each operating account. Operating accounts, which are subject to BNL overhead, are established by the user's home institution via a purchase order.

One of ten national laboratories overseen and primarily funded by the Office of Science of the
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Brookhaven National Laboratory conducts research in the physical,
biomedical, and environmental sciences, as well as in energy technologies and national security.
Brookhaven Lab also builds and operates major scientific facilities available to university, industry
and government researchers. Brookhaven is operated and managed for DOE's Office of Science by Brookhaven
Science Associates, a limited-liability company founded by the Research Foundation for the State
University of New York on behalf of Stony Brook University, the largest academic user of Laboratory
facilities, and Battelle, a nonprofit applied science and technology organization.